March 13, 2023
Rose Smith worked as a public health officer in her home country of Jamaica and emigrated to the United States after the loss of her son. While battling the grief of that loss and navigating a new country, she found herself unable to work but kept busy volunteering. She first landed in Florida, then made her way to New York before finally ending up in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The move to Colorado was an opportunity for a fresh start with a change of scenery. Ready to reenter the workforce, she applied and was hired by HHS in April 2020 in a housekeeping role. She started in the pharmacy and threw herself into learning the ins and outs of environmental services.
“It was a humbling experience. I never knew housekeeping before, but I learned. When I got to UC Memorial North, I was placed in the pharmacy and oncology infusion. So I applied myself, and then they started having me train all the persons in the pharmacy. I got promoted to a supervisor last year and then to an assistant director [in January],” Rose shared.
In addition to going all in at her job, Rose enrolled in HHS’ partner program with Southwest University in November 2021. On February 13th of this year, Rose proudly graduated with a 4.0 GPA and a well-earned associate degree.
“I’m like, knowledge is power, so I motivated myself to start the program. It has been an awesome program, and since working as a supervisor, I was able to apply what I learned. It improved my management skills. And it also helped me to recognize the type of leader I am and how I can motivate my staff to do better,” Rose said of the experience.
It has taken a lot of strength and resilience for Rose to start over and rebuild in the last couple of years. Rose has a philosophy of
aiming high and a faith that if she does, she can achieve whatever she wants to.
“The sky is the limit to where you can go. I motivate myself a lot because I want to achieve things. Because there are no boundaries to where you can go. Once you make your mind up and you decide, this is what I want to achieve, then you can achieve it,” Rose passionately explained.
It is easy to see how her infectious drive motivates the team members she manages. Rose is now a Southwest University evangelist and believes that anyone who wants to follow a similar path to hers should enroll in the program. Rose said, “It has been a tremendous experience and I hope others will capitalize on these opportunities and will emerge as leaders as we strive to continue to be the best in the industry.”
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